Nonet, Poetic Form Exercise Options

[JustDaniel]

row
on row
of berries
needing harvest
but it's back-breaking
work to pick the sweet fruit;
he'd done what he could himself
then farmer spends days searching out
local help, but none would bend the knee

[Larry]

kneed
the ground
while searching
for one more row
with some ripe berries
still growing on the vine
but all of them were consumed
so I guess my search was fruitless
because I could not find one non-et

[JustDaniel]

et
my fruit
all alone
out in the field
while waiting for you
but since you didn't show
I just kept stuffing them in
all the way through the final row
where I woke up just before you came

[Larry]

came
to help
you pick fruit
and would assist
but I failed to find
the ninth row to start on
so I could work my way back
to meet you in the middle rows
but found you stuffed and asleep on ate

[JustDaniel]

eight
fruit rows
because one
had been left bare;
'twas number seven
which has now been planted
although there are no berries;
they won't mature until next year --
were afraid that we wouldn't find help

[Larry]

help
is hard
to acquire
when work’s involved
and high pay is not
but if perspiration
is any part of the deal
it is nearly impossible
to find one with pep that’s worth his salt.

[JustDaniel]

salt
has taste
but hides it
from the public;
he only comes out
when he is lifted up
and shaken vigorously
to release his tasteful dry humor

[Larry]

more
nuance
of good taste
preparing some
quahogs you desire
rather than using sage,
sea-foods with lots of salt make
thirst a good reason or excuse;
unless you don’t like steamed clams with ale

[JustDaniel]

ale
for what's
ailing you...
or at least some
hold to that adage;
for me it would add age
to this already stretched skin;
not sure it could expand much more
than my huge belly can stand or slump

[Larry]

“slumped
over
the keyboard
searching for words”
will most likely be
etched upon my tombstone
and hopefully, someone will
finish that last Cinquain with the
credit given to who’s been a- “mused”

[JustDaniel]

muse
etching
on the grave
winds up in jail
for marring the stone;
no one seems to believe
she had some relationship
with anyone around, much less
with the stiff who joined the underground

[Larry]

ground
into
a powder,
nice coffee beans
produce more flavor
because interaction
with the boiling hot water
permits contact with more pieces
which you won’t have to strain through you teeth

[JustDaniel]

teeth
can grind
to powder
a piece of toast
that has no butter
but who wants to put such
a piece of food in his mouth?
a small pat of that cream makes it
taste much more uneconomical

[Larry]

cal.
is short
for some things
like calories
and although butter
being slathered on toast
will make it taste much better
the danger lies in bread itself
as carbohydrates change to sugar

[JustDaniel]

gar
are fish
that may grow
to more than six
feet (but with no feet)
and extremely long jaws
and teeth with which you do not
want ever to have started fights
because you cannot win in such wars

[Larry]

wars
with fish
can be won
with a small stick
which you light and throw
into lakes or large streams
then you take a big dip net
and gather which kind and what size
you wish to cook and then eat in peace.

[JustDaniel]

peas
after
you had tossed
your mysterious
exploding red stick
may cause stomach troubles,
trout bursting forth from your gut
pretending that they'll take a pea...
but spilling out piecemeal on the floor

[Larry]

floor
debate
about sticks,
they don’t explode
but they are toxic
like the Makore wood
which affects nervous systems
causing disorientation
and the confused fish float to the top

[JustDaniel]

stop
before
you begin
when you're afraid
and you won't ever
accomplish anything;
of course sometimes when you go
your achievements may be so poor
that you'd be better off if you'd stopped

[Larry]

stopped
because
of failure
is giving up,
admitting defeat;
but through trial and error
one overcomes many things
and eventually attains
a modicum of success in life